Nami Nakamura {to dream, to create, to inspire}

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Though I've been silent, I've been silently working behind the scenes. We were on the road for a whole month and when we got home, there was loads to catch up on at home and business. It was great to cook in my own kitchen and sleep in my own bed. I think I might be considered an expert in road travel by now, considering our shows take us away over 30 weekends a year.

We will be heading to Boise, ID for our first show there. Mechelle and Darrin have been working hard to make it a successful show for vendors and attendees alike. You will enjoy the more intimate setting and the chance to rub elbows with many out of town vendors.

We will then make a tour through St Paul, MN, Ft Wayne, IN, Milwaukee, WI, Las Vegas, NV, Mesa, AZ and Carson, CA. You will enjoy the fresh samples there and the lots of inspiration. It's time to start thinking fall projects in order to warm up to Christmas cards.

We have new videos being loaded onto YouTube. We will have the updates on the website.

Monday, June 28, 2010

I've been absent from blogging for some time. I guess mainly because the DeNami Blog has been doing such a fabulous job that now I am coasting a bit.

We are winding down our four show tour stint. We will be flying home to enjoy the Fourth of July at home and my daughter's graduation party.

Our string of shows kicked off with the first one being in West Springfield, MA, then Collinsville, IL, Orlando, FL and finally Chantilly, VA. We got to meet Ayana in Orlando. She was kind enough to help us out while coming out there. She was as sweet as can be. She did her bestest to introduce DeNami to all who came by. It was so much fun having her and having my daughter Paulina there. Paulina is the nice and sweet voice that you will most likely hear when you call in a to DeNami. She has an amazing blog here.This is a pic of me, Ayana and Paulina.

I must say it rained a lot. Keep in mind that I am from WA. So to have a Washingtonian say it rained a lot, that says something.

We spent this last weekend in Chantilly, VA at the Great American Scrapbook Show. We had the wonderful opportunity to work with Ashley Cannon-Newell, editor and founder of Embellish Magazine. We have sponsored her mag and find it to be top notch. Check it out here.

Here is Ashley and me.

During the show I was delighted and surprised to see Eileen Hull. We first met in NY, but this show was in her backyard. She designs for Sizzix and has her own blog here.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

I was reading Paulina's April Ramblings and wanted to join in on the fun. You can read hers here. Ayana, from DeNami's design team also did hers. Find it here.

Keep in mind there is no rhyme or reason to these, just some random thoughts.

* I love spring. When the sun in shining and the sky is blue. Not too hot or too cold.* I love to cuddle up with each of my boys. They are growing up too quickly. I think they might like it too:)* In my mind I like being organized, but the reality contradicts this ideal.* There aren't enough hours in the day to put on paper all the ideas I have in my head.* I love to eat. My enjoyment for cooking and baking is only the means to that end. Eating in our family is a sport. Buffets are the best thing since sliced bread.* I eat according to texture (crunchy and soft) and also salty/sour to sweet. I guess I like balance:)* My latest favorite chips are PopChips. The BBQ ones are the bomb. Have you had any yet?* I enjoying early mornings. Waking up at 4:30AM is something I love to do. I know, I'm one of those "rare" people.* Action movies with a good story line are fun for me to watch. Can't wait for the next Iron Man to come out. I do love Italian Job, Ocean's Eleven and Mission Impossible.* I like movies with a satisfying ending. I am one of those who don't like to still be wondering "why" or "what" after a movie. Unless, of course, it's supposed to be a cliff hanger. Batman Begins and Star Trek (the recent one) were very good and satifying movies for me.* I'm not one to see a movie more than once. That's why I don't like buying movies. I feel like they would just be wasted sitting on the shelf. My husband, on the other hand, could start a movie lending library with all he owns. The times I've watched a movie twice was when he's sitting next to me on the plane and I happen to glance over in at his DVD player. Even then, I only see the images and have no sound.* I like the idea of wearing great looking shoes, but in reality, I go purely for comfort. You will find me wearing my Saucony running shoes 95% of the time. I will wear dress shoes for church and weddings, but once home, they come off. My daughter officially announced to me that I own the most shoes in our family, after cleaning out the family shoe shelves. Remember, there's seven of us, so that translates to lots of shoes. Lots.* I love being a wife and mom. Caring for them via cooking for them, hanging out with them, watching them and just being near them brings peace and joy to my heart.* I love Jesus. I may not always reflect that when I am tired, stressed or irritated, but in my heart of heart, I love Him because I know He loves me. He's my BFF. Do you know Him?* I love meeting people. I love it when people trust me enough to open up their lives to me. Y'all have a story to tell.* I love garage sale-ing. Wheeling and dealing is a favorite past time for me. Too bad I'll be gone so much this summer, otherwise that's where I would be. I am quite choosy when I think of hauling something new into the house. I do have some 'splaining to my hubby when I drag something home, so it better be good.* Hot fudge over vanilla ice cream and nuts is the best invention since sliced bread, buffets...* White chocolate is a new favorite of mine. I recently ate a bag of Flipz. Yum!* I enjoy running. Outdoors in the spring is so nice. Treadmill running is second best. Running in the rain is bunk.* I need to get a new day planner. It will be a place to "catch" all my thoughts, events planned and just my priorities. I get too side tracked if I don't have a plan. Franklin Covey is my favorite planner. Great system, if you use it:)* I love to read. I haven't done it recently, but when I have, I love it.* I love reading biographies with my boys. We've spanned many generations, continents and lives by reading about the heroes of old. I love telling them about the sacrifices many have made for the cause of Jesus. Also, that living with integrity and character is the right thing to do, even at the cost of comfort and personal sacrifice.* I love to create. I love to also make something ordinary into something extraordinary. I guess that's why I like watching make-overs, Biggest Loser, What Not to Wear, etc.* I like seeing my family happy. It makes me happy.* I would like to take up the guitar again. I haven't done it in years. In my mind, I would like to write a song. It's in my mind still...* I don't like it when I lose something. I just recently lost a good water bottle, my worst is losing my IPod. It was so sad. The saddest part was that I had no idea where I lost it. At least I knew where I left my water bottle.* Computer problems drive me batty. I stopped doing YouTube videos because my computer kept freezing up on me. It froze ten times while I edited it. I got so frustrated, that I had to turn it off and take a breather. I haven't gone back to it since. Sigh... Do have any video editing software you would recommend?

Well, I could go on and on. I better stop. Leave me a comment to tell me you stopped by. Bloggers loooooove comments, in fact, they blog for comments:)

We had a grand ol' time on the road with our boys. We just finished our Akron, OH stop and enjoyed the folks there. I love all you stampers. You bring such richness and joy into my life with your personalities, encouragement, stories and love. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. We love what we do and give glory to God for being able to share our passion with you. Without you, we'd be stamping all alone with no one to share it with... (tear)... sigh... Fortunately, that's not the case and we can keep on truckin' as long as you keep liking what we do.

Thank you to all who came up to us telling us how much you enjoyed our boys' help. They are boys and get bored, so you kept them busy. We loved having them near and sharing them with you loving ladies. Every once in a while, one of you gives the boys a tip and they really get excited to help;)

Right now I will be putting my nose to the grindstone to design our new collection. Here's your chance to share your wish list. Leave it in the comments section. I would like to have some "pun-ny" ones for our fun characters. Corny ones are OK, too!

We just finished a show in Albany, NY. Though it was our first time there, we saw a lot of customers from the West Springfield, MA show. We look forward to seeing them in MA this June.

We had our two sons with us and we'll be doing a short road trip from Albany to our show in Akron, OH. We are still firming up help for Saturday in Akron, so if you would like to be considered, contact us with a little bio. We look for energetic, friendly, sales people to help with the customer sales and set-up/take down. No stamping experience necessary, just good people skills.

It was quite chilly in NY, since the grounds didn't have heat. I was bundled up and enjoyed the warm hearts of the ladies there. We had a couple of dynamic helpers named Shannon and Joey. We look forward to seeing them at a future show.

(not a great pic of me, but my helpers look fab!)

I have some great cards I made this weekend that I will prep soon. I hope you bloggers have been enjoying DeNami's dynamic blog http://denami.blogspot.com We have fun contests, features and just plain good projects. Come meet the design team and see all their creative projects. It's a real treat to see how creative they can be.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

A dear friend had a birthday and with all my travels, I finally had the time to make a special card for her. It was a surprise birthday, considering her birthday was back in February:), she wasn't expecting it, at this point.

I loved the vibrant colors and design mix. The stripes and paisley pattern worked well together since the greens complemented each other. I added the grosgrain ribbon to add texture and detail. You can double click the picture to see an upclose view.

We are getting ready for the stamp show in Allentown, PA. Be sure to visit and see the latest and greatest stuff we have.